In solidarity

THE VENUE was the Hong Kong Theatre at the London School of Economics (LSE), and the main event was a video-conference lecture by the inimitable Edward Said, reports Tarek Atia . But before that could begin, three activists from different parts of the globe gave their own speeches, gearing up for anti-war demonstrations earlier this month.

Antonio Campenni, of Italy's Social Forum, said his group was calling for a general strike on the day the bombs start falling. "If the war does start, we have to do all we can to make it stop," he said. The comment immediately made clear the overwhelming feeling here in London -- that people, despite being dreamers lined up against the seemingly impenetrable powers that run the world, are also realistic: they know the war is inevitable and have already begun planning their reaction to it.

The evening's keynote speech was given by Edward Said, via video-conference from Columbia University in New York, and was viewed by over a dozen universities throughout England, including LSE. As Said gave his speech, the quotable phrases popped like firecrackers. He claimed that the reasoning for the war -- that Iraq, 7,000 miles away, was a threat to the US -- was "preposterous". The real reasons for the war, according to Said, were oil and political Islam -- both of which the US wants to control -- and Israel, which safeguards US interests in the region.

Said one of the organisers after Said's speech: the outpouring of anti-war feeling has been so big that it might inspire regime change in the UK even faster than the war intends to force it in Baghdad.

ANTI-WAR activists from the UK chapter of the peace and environmental group Greenpeace launched a targeted programme of civil disobedience on Monday when they singled out British Esso and the parent company, the Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corporation as fuelling the US drive to war. Actions shut down some 100 petrol stations on Monday and precipitated the evacuation of the company's headquarters in Surrey.

Small groups of activists protesting Exxon Mobil's close association with the pro-war lobby moved at dawn to shut down power to pumps at stations. Handles from electricity switches at disabled stations were also collected and sent to Esso board members in Texas by post.

STARS doing the rounds in the run-up to the Academy Awards used European awards ceremonies to voice their anti-war sentiments. At the Cesars, in Paris, on Sunday, American entertainers like filmmaker Michael Moore and director Spike Lee slipped some resistance into the evening, while at the British Baftas, in London, on Monday, film producer Saul Zaentz denounced US war plans and was enthusiastically applauded by Hollywood's elite in the audience.

Some Americans, however, have had enough of so many spotlight-hogging stars hopping on the anti-war bandwagon. A conservative radio station in Seattle, Washington, has seen tremendous support since it launched its campaign to provide a counterbalance to the free press garnered by anti-war stars. Listeners of KVI radio have pledged some $80,000 for advertising supporting the American leadership.

But the propaganda war continues. The anti-war group Win without War -- a broad coalition of peace groups -- has called on actor Martin Sheen, who plays a popular Democratic president on the American television series "The West Wing", to offer his support to the "Virtual March" on Wednesday. Organisers -- among them MoveOn.org, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and the National Organisation for Women (NOW) -- urged anti-war protesters to "overwhelm the White House and every member of the US Senate with calls, faxes and e-mails".

Compiled by Nyier Abdou